Patty Farmer, currently Vice Chair of the Ҵý߹ۿ Board of Directors, has been appointed Chair. Joining the Ҵý߹ۿ Board of Directors are higher education leader Dario Cortes, Ph.D., and retail industry veteran Denise Vujovich.
Farmer is an LIM alumna, earning a bachelor’s degree in Fashion Merchandising and a Master of Professional Studies (MPS) degree in the Business of Fashion from the College. She is a successful entrepreneur who launched her first venture—a luxury maternity boutique which grew to four locations—after graduating from LIM. After 16 years leading that business, Farmer pivoted to a career in real estate development and today continues to mentor small businesses.
In addition to her business pursuits, Farmer is an author with five published books, including one recounting the history of New York’s iconic Plaza Hotel titled, Starring the Plaza: Hollywood, Broadway and High Society Visit the World’s Favorite Hotel.
Since 2010, Farmer has been active in philanthropic support of the LIM Fashion Education Foundation (FEF) and is on its Board. She also serves as a mentor to students in LIM’s Honors Program and recipients of the LIM FEF Patty Farmer Scholarship, which to date has helped 20 Ҵý߹ۿ students achieve their educational goals. In 2023, Farmer received an honorary Doctor of Commercial Science degree from LIM.
With more than four decades in higher education, Cortes has served in leadership positions with a variety of colleges and universities, including 11 years with Berkeley College, New York City, where he served as President and Trustee, Senior Vice President of Strategic Alliances, and Executive Director of the Berkeley College Foundation. He went on to serve as Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost of Miami Regional University, Miami, and is currently a Senior Consultant to the Association of Governing Boards in Washington, D.C.
Earlier in his career, Cortes served in leadership positions with institutions including The American School Foundation in Mexico City, the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York, the University of Maryland at College Park and The Johns Hopkins University, SAIS, in Washington, D.C.
Cortes is a past Commissioner of the Middle States Commission on Higher Education and served on a taskforce responsible for rewriting Middle States standards. He was also selected by the American Council on Education to serve on a national taskforce to review the role of regional accreditations. Cortes has been a visiting Fellow at the Harvard University Institute for Education Management, and was an ACE Fellow at the University of Pennsylvania, as well as a Klingenstein Fellow at Teachers College, Columbia University.
Vujovich is an experienced retail industry executive with a career that has spanned more than four decades and has included leadership positions with May Merchandising Company, Macy’s Midwest, and Claire’s Stores.
At Claire’s, she most recently served as Executive Vice President and Chief Merchandising Officer and was responsible for strategy and product curation for the global retailer of proprietary jewelry and accessories. During Vujovich’s tenure, Claire’s generated more than 1.5 billion in sales over 2,500 Claire’s Stores in 17 countries throughout North America and Europe as well as 200 ICING stores in North America.
Ron Marshall, Ҵý߹ۿ President, said, “It is exciting to begin 2024 with the announcement of our new Board Chair, who has been a long-standing contributor to our success, as well as the addition of two eminently qualified leaders who will each bring the strength of their respective areas of expertise. LIM is celebrating our 85th anniversary this year and we have a strong team in place to build on our legacy and secure our position as a global leader for higher education within the business of fashion and lifestyle.”
